Amish Accused In Bizarre Crime Wave

October 5, 2011

STEUBENVILLE - Numerous members of the Amish community near Bergholz are under investigation by at least four sheriff's departments involving incidents in which homes were broken into and Amish victims had their hair and beards cut off.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department received two reports on Tuesday from individuals in Holmes and Carroll counties involving hair-cutting incidents.

In Carroll County, a group of Amish men knocked on a door of an Amish man's home, pulled him out by his beard and tried to cut off his beard. The Carroll County Sheriff's Department reported the Amish men referred to themselves as being part of the "Bergholz Clan."

In Holmes County, a group of Amish men burst into a home and cut the hair off men and women inside and cut the beards off the men. Holmes County Sheriff Timothy Zimmerly said the victims included a 13-year-old girl and a 74-year-old man. Zimmerly and one of his detectives were at the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department this morning gathering evidence from a truck and horse trailer that was believed to have been used in connection with the assaults on Tuesday.

Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla said there was an incident in Trumbull County about three weeks ago in which a group of Amish men and women from Bergholz went to a home in that county and cut the hair off men and women inside.

A truck and horse trailer used to transport the Bergholz Amish men was traced back to a man living outside Dillonvale. The driver said he went to a horse auction in Mount Hope in Holmes County on Tuesday with 27 Amish persons, who rode in the truck and horse trailer, according to a report from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department.

The Amish men asked the driver to stop at a home in Holmes County. A group of the Amish men got out of the truck, walked up to the house and then came back, telling the driver to "go," according to the driver's statement given to Jefferson County sheriff's deputies.

The driver said the same thing happened at the home in Carroll County, according to the sheriff's department.

The driver told a deputy he thought the situation seemed suspicious but the Amish men were speaking "Dutch."

The truck and horse trailer were towed to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, where the Holmes County Sheriff's Department searched for hair evidence.